Hybrid AFM for Nanoscale Physicochemical Characterization: Recent Development and Emerging Applications

Abstract

By taking advantage of the innate ability of the immune cells to target tumor cells, in article number 1603121, Cheng Dong, Jian Yang, and co-workers develop a self-powered immune cell-mediated theranostic biodegradable photoluminescent poly (lactic acid) (BPLP-PLA) nanoparticle-based drug delivery system for melanoma targeting and drug delivery. Theranostic Stents In article number 1602925, Sei Kwang Hahn and co-workers report a pH-responsive microbubble-eluting theranostic stent for real-time ultrasound imaging of blood vessels implanted with the stent, and dissolution of fat-rich plaques to prevent the blocking of blood vessels. This smart theranostic stent can facilitate non-invasive monitoring and prevent restenosis after stent implantation. Air Filtration A ripple-like polyamide-6 nanofiber/nets membrane filter composed of two-dimensional nanonets (≈20 nm) and a scaffold framework is fabricated by Bin Ding and co-workers in article number 1603151, by combining an electrospinning/netting technique with the receiving substrate design. By virtue of its small pore size and stable cavity structure, the filter can filtrate ultrafine airborne particles with a high removal efficiency of 99.996%, low air resistance of 95 Pa, using a physical sieving manner.

Probing of Local Multifield Coupling Phenomena of Advanced Materials by Scanning Probe Microscopy Techniques

“…AFM‐IR has been applied in the studies of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 hybrid perovskite solar cells to reveal its chemical heterogeneity and ferroelasticity, while AFM‐Raman has been widely used in polymers characterizations . The two newly developed techniques and related applications were recently reviewed by Fu and Zhang …”

Heterogeneity of the Transmembrane Protein Conformation in Purple Membranes Identified by Infrared Nanospectroscopy

“…Nanoscale resolution can be obtained in IR spectroscopy by shining mid‐IR tunable laser beams on the scanning probe tip of atomic force microscopes (AFM) and by simultaneously recording optical scattering signals (as in scattering scanning near field microscopy, s‐SNOM) and/or optomechanical signals (as in the photoexpansion microscopy, hereafter called AFM‐IR). Recently, the measurement of the mid‐IR absorption spectra of molecular monolayers has been demonstrated with both the s‐SNOM and the AFM‐IR technique with sensitivity down to few tens of molecules.…”

Reflectance in AFM-IR: Implications for Interpretation and Remote Analysis of the Buried Interface

“…However, one important consequence of this is the need to understand and eliminate potential infrared imaging artifacts. 2 , 39 For AFM-IR, previously reported sources of artifact in the infrared signal include variation in the tip–sample contact area on rough samples, 11 locally enhanced infrared amplitude signals over regions of increased sample thickness (i.e., increased volume of material beneath the probe), 39 , 40 and the dependence of the induced resonance on local mechanical properties (hardness). 41 , 42 At present, these effects are, for the most part, routinely considered by experienced microscopists when interpreting AFM-IR results.…”